STS-1

OV-102 (Columbia)
April 12-14, 1981

Artists Record Columbia's Flight

A tradition nearly as old as the space program
itself continued in April when artists recorded the events at Kennedy Space
Center, Fla., of the first flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia for NASA.

For more than 18 years, NASA's art program has commissioned
some of the nation's outstanding artists to render their impressions of
key events in the space program. The artist donates time and talent in
return for an honorarium to cover expenses.

The purpose of the agency's art program is to collect
an archival history of the exploration of space. Artists have been present
at Cape Canaveral as astronauts suited up for their flights and were launched
into space, and they have been aboard recovery ships when the astronauts
returned to Earth. They have flown simultors to experience at least a taste
of what it is like to fly in space.

Participating artists have ranged from traditionalists
such as Peter Hurd and James Wyeth, to modernists such as Robert Rauschenberg
and Lamar Dodd. The art produced varies from subjects closely seen and
sharply delineated to those only sensed or imagined by the artist. The
renowned artists commissioned by NASA to record the flight of Columbia
include: Lamar Dodd, Henry Casselli, Robert McCall, Arthur Shilstone, Wilson
Hurley, Tom O'Hara, Jack Perlmutter, Bill Robles and William Philips.

There is much precedent for artists to record historic
events such as a space flight. Artists have long recorded important events
in American history, including the settlement of the West, the Civil War
and World Wars I and II.

The work of artists who have participated in the NASA
program has been used extensively in books, magazines, newspapers, motion
pictures, television and even on postage stamps. Individual artists have
received awards for their work.

The paintings, drawings and other works of art produced
under the program become the property of NASA but they are frequently loaned
to museums or other organizations for display.